Lolita

"...but in the middle of the night she came sobbing into mine, and we made it up very gently.  You see, she had absolutely nowhere else to go."

This passage marks the end of Part 1 of Lolita, a passage which to me highlights the true character of Humbert Humbert more than any other.  More than anything else, Humbert wanted control, and throughout the book he makes attempts to assert his control in extremely unsettling ways.  Just before the passage, Humbert had told Lolita that her mother was dead.  In his narration, Humbert makes it very clear that his timing of informing Lolita of her mother's death was coldly calculated.  However, the book makes a far darker implication about the death of Charlotte.  In chapter 20, soon after Humbert and Charlotte are married, Humbert mentions that while one can't plan a perfect murder on their own, random chance can help them.  Several chapters later, Charlotte is "accidentally" hit by a car as she was about to mail letters revealing Humbert.  Earlier, Humbert states that he was unable to bring himself to drown Charlotte.  With the news that Charlotte would expose him and end his relationship with Lolita, I feel like it wouldn't be out of the question for Humbert to push Charlotte in front of the car, especially after learning that he murders Clare Quilty.  Regardless, having Charlotte out of the picture was always a part of his plan. When he finally lets Lolita know that her mother is dead, Humbert has put himself in a position where he is literally the only person she can turn to.  He acknowledges this in the passage, and instead of treating her like a human, continues to rape her that night.

It is with some difficulty and hesitation that I classify Lolita as a love story.  For me, a love story has to have two primary components:  one of the main characters needs to have romantic feelings towards someone, and at some point those feelings need to be expressed through selfless actions.  It was very difficult to tell through most of the book whether Humbert actually had romantic feelings towards Lolita, or just desires of sex and control.  Near the end he seems to feel regret for all the terrible things he's done to her, and gives her money to help with her future regardless of her feelings towards him.  At this point, Lolita is past her "nymphlet" stage and pregnant, so that leads me to believe that his emotions and actions in that passage were actually fueled by romantic means rather than purely sexual ones.

Humbert is a manipulative and unforgivable monster, but his core is just as human and complex as the rest of us.  To me, this is the most unsettling aspect of the book.